The present invention relates, in general, to apparatus and circuitry of selectively recording radio broadcast events and for playing back the most recently recorded event upon command. More particularly, the invention relates to a timed broadcast recorder system utilizing a continuous loop tape recorder and playback unit connected to a broadcast receiver and periodically activated by a timer to record pre-selected broadcast events, and further relates to control means for playing back the recorded events upon command. The receiver portion of the system may be an AM radio receiver, an FM radio receiver, a shortwave communications receiver, or the like, and the timer may be set to operate the tape recorder and receiver periodically, for example, once each hour, to receive and record the hourly news which is broadcast on a selected station or to record some other preselected periodic event. The device may be a self-contained unit, or may be connected in combination with existing receiver units.
Although hourly news broadcasts were common on almost every radio station in years, past, in the last decade many stations have shown little interest in news programming, preferring instead to shift to a continuous music format. Similarly, many television stations carry no news programming at all, although major TV stations broadcast world news in the early morning hours, around the dinner hour, and late in the evening with an occasional one-minute update throughout the day. Thus, during the bulk of the day, news programs are hard to find and are generally restricted to short hourly broadcasts on selected AM network stations and on a few FM stations.
Many people, however, wish to keep up to date on the news, particularly at times of major happenings or emergencies. Because of the low number of stations which carry such broadcasts, and the relative scarcity of such broadcasts, it is often difficult to remember to turn on the radio at the proper time and then to find the correct station. Often times during the day it is simply not convenient to break away from an appointment, business conversation, telephone call or the like just to turn on the radio to hear the latest news, even though at times of emergencies such as floods, hurricanes or the like getting the news as soon as possible may be of major importance. Furthermore, it often happens that during a news broadcast, one's attention is diverted momentarily so that important information is missed, and the listener must then wait until the next broadcast, perhaps an hour later, to obtain the required information. Other periodically broadcast information, such as farm reports, stock market reports, or the like may be the events of interest instead of news broadcasts, or, in the case of shortwave communications, the events of interest may be periodic instructions to security officers, emergency information for police and fire officials, or the like. Thus, it will be understood that references herein to news broadcasts includes such other events.